Method of packaging blades



Oct. 20, 1936. H. A. GUSTAFSON METHOD 0? PACKAGING BLADES Original FiledMay 9, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 29, 1936. r H, T ON 2,058,147

METHOD OF PACKAGING BLADES Original Filed May 9, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2,Z 'iveizi'or" b 7 Q fiwa amv 7 J afibr'wgy v Patented Oct. 20, 1936UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE METHOD or PACKAGING BLADES Henry A.Gustafson, Dorchester, Mass., assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company,Boston, Mesa, a corporation of. Delaware Original application May 9,1935, Serial No.

20,623. Divided and this application September 30, 1935, Serial No.42,781

9 Claims. (Cl. 93-2) into ga commercial package.

In handling safety razor blades under. com

mercial conditions of transportation and distribution and in the more orlesscasual treatment of such blades by the user, the extremely fineke'en edge of the blade is-likely to become dulled by being brought intocontact with its wrapping or with other objects before it can beactually clamped in shaving position in the razor. On this account thebest and most skillful efforts. of the manufacturer in sharpening bladesare often brought to naught because of the damage done to the veryfragile and delicate structure of the blade edge after it has beenbrought to the'keenest possible shaving condition and before the shavingoperation is actually undertaken.

With these conditions in view an important object of the presentinvention is to provide a novel cover sheet in which each blade may beenclosed and held in such position that its cutting edge is not onlyprotected from direct contact with external objects but is preventedfrom rubbing against any part of the wrapping.

I have discovered that by shaping a cover sheet in a novel manner it maybe folded about one end of the blade and secured in' position byinterfolding parts of the cover sheet so that the blade is securelypositioned between superposed leaves which project beyond the cuttingedge of the blade in overlapping but unconnected relation. The cuttingedge, therefore, lies between the superposed leaves and these areconnected at opposite ends of the blade independently of its.

cutting edge. A more important field of use of my invention is inprotecting and packaging razor blades having comer recesses which defineelongated unsharpened portions in each end of the blade and internalapertures for the reception of the blade-locating projections of therazor. As herein shown the cover sheet is slotted to registersubstantially with the perforation of the blade so that the protectedblade may be assembled with others on gauge pins or positioned upon thebladequently the dangerof drawing the edge of the blade against therazor cap or other part isobviated. Having once positioned the blade inthe razor so that it is held in place therein the protective cover maybe removed by merely pulling it endwise.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention one 'end of the cover sheetis shaped to provide aprojecting tongue and the other end is shaped toprovide one or more ears which may be folded over theprojecting tonguet) secure the two ends of the folded cover sheet together and upon aninterposed-blade. Variousother e'xpedients maybe utilized for holdingthe blade in place between the cover sheets as by bending tongues out ofthe body of the sheet in such position as to pass throughthe bladeperforations andto lie upon the sur- 5 face of the blade.

An important feature ofthe novel cover of my invention consists in asingle ply .tab which may be cut from the'body of one leaf of the coversheet and extended outwardly beyond the contour of the folded sheet.Suchtabs may be utilized to hold' a plurality of protected blades in astack with the tabs superposed for the reception of a stapleor otherfastener. It has been found that the individual protected blade may betorn out of such a stack or package without danger of destroying ortearing the cover so as prematurely to expose a portion of the blade.

This is ac' counted for to some extent by the fact that the single plymaterial of the tab is more easily tom '30 than the doubled material ofthe cover sheet so that the tab tears while the cover. sheet remainsintact.

These and otherfeatures of the invention will be best understood andappreciated from the following description of preferred embodimentsthereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of apackage of protected blades with the outer cover of the pack- 40 ageopen;

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of an individual protected blade as tornfrom the package of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the protected blades in inverted andreversed position together with the tab torn therefrom;

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of a safety razor with a protected bladein place therein and the protective cover partially withdrawn from theblade; v a

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of the cover sheet in condition to befolded upon a blade;

Fig. 6 is a view in perspective illustrating the steps of assembling theindividual protected 2 blades and securing them togetheriin packageform: and

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate blades enclosed in cover sheets of. modifiedform.

I have shown in Figs. 1 to 6 a preferred form of cover sheet and onemanner of enclosing and packaging therein .awell-known commercial safetyrazor blade, and will proceed first to describe my invention from thisstandpoint. The blade 24 is thin, flexible, double-edged. provided ineach of its corners with a rectangular recess and theserecesses'collectively define elongated unsharpened portions at each endof the blade.

. The blade is'also provided with an internal slot having spacedenlargements therein and the slot or its enlargements are adapted toreceive bladelocating projections of various shapes in different typesof safety razors.

The cover sheet, as best. shown in Fig. 5, comprises an elongated stripof waxed paper or the like, centrally notched to indicate a fold linewhich as herein shown is further defined by a line of perforations l4.One portion or leaf ll of the cover sheet is provided with an elongatedslot I! so shaped and locatedas' to register with the slot of the bladeand clear the'enlargements therein. At its outer end the leaf II isprovided with a centrally disposed outwardly projecting tongue II. A tabit is outlined in the body of the leaf it but is connected at its baseto the cover sheetsubstantially at the perforated line it. The tab itmay be substantially rectangular or slightly tapering "utwardly from itsbase. The I otherportion or leaf ii of the cover sheet is provided withan elongated slot ll located to register with the slot i2 and with afiap it at its outer end, slitted to define a pair of transverselyfoldable ears I'I. As shown in Fig. 5, the ears 11 areset ofl. by scoredlines from the flap it but this is not necessary in all cases. The fiapIt and the tongue II. are substantially the same width and coincidenearly in width to the unsharpened elongated end portions of the bladebroughtintoregistration with the tab It the two cars II are foldedinwardly about the tongue ll thus locking the elongated unsharpenedportion I at the other end of the blade between them. If

waxedv paper is employed as material for the folding pressure although.if desired the car may 1 be sealed in place by the application of heat.An individual protected blade is shownin P18. 2 and fromthis figure itwill be apparent thatthe blade 24 is locked against transversedisplacement by the position of the cover folds with respect to theunsharpened elongated portions at opposite ends of the blade and thatthe two leaves of the cover sheet project in edge-free relationoutwardly beyond the cutting edge of the blade in position to act asfenders for the cutting edge in the manipulation of the blade.

The protected blade may be distributed individually in this form ifdesired, but it is usually preferred to assemble five of these protectedblades in a stack and secure them together for use in a commercialpackage.- The operation of assembling such a stack of blades issuggested in Fig. 6, where a portion of a rotatable turret I. is shown.The turret is provided with radially disposed pairs of guide pins 3|having rounded ends. and being of such diameter as to register withspaced enlargements of the perforations in the blade. The operatorplaces the protected 33 for inserting a staple 34 in the superposed tabsI! of the protected blade covers. Accordwhich is herein shown asprovided with a driver ingly the turret "is advanced to present a stackof protected blades properly to the driving mechanism and the staple 34is inserted and clinched.

Subsequently the turret is rotated another step toa station at which thestapled package may be removed for insertion in such covers as shown inFig. 1 and a new stack presented to the stapling machine. 1 i

' In making the package of Fig. 1 a strip of cardboard is folded to formthe cover 20 and a staple II is driven through its superposed free endsand the tabs it of the individual protected blades. The folded end ofthe cover 20 is perforated in two lines near its fold vertex so that theend portion 22 may be easily torn off in opening the package. 1

In Fig. 4 is suggested the operation of placing a protected blade in asafety razor and of removing the cover therefrom. The safety razorincludes a pair of pivotally mounted cap sections 25 which are shownherein in their open position and are arranged to be swung inwardly tofiex and clamp the blade in shaving position, as will be wellunderstood. The razor is also provided with a centrally disposedblade-locating bar' 28 with which the slot of the blade 24 is adapted toreglater. The individual blade is torn from the package shown in Fig. 1along the line defining the base of the tab I 3, leaving the tab behindit in the package. The protected blade is then placed tion the edges ofthe cover act as fenders and so prevent-the sharp edges-of the bladefrom being brought into contact with the cap sections 2!; After theprotected blade has been fully positioned in the razor the user maywithdraw the cover by merely pulling the end of the cover including theinterfolded tongue II and fiap II. The cover thereupon is drawnlongitudinally over the blade and this is done without the necessity ofany further tearing because the ends of the cover slots l2 and is havebeen opened in tearing the protected blade from its package. It willthus be seen that the blade is fully protected in distribution and useup to the point of being actually located for shaving in the safety,razor and it is only exposed when all danger is past of dulling itscutting edges. 7

It will be observedthat the blade is securely locked in position withinthe cover shown in Figs. 1 to 8 by engagement of the latter overtheshoulders of'the blade recessesg In Figs. 7 and B aresuggestedalternative methods of locking the blade in position by tonguespassing through the internal aperture of the blade. The cover shown inFig. Icomprises two leaves ill and'H which are slotted to register withthe blade aperture, the I slot 5| of'the leaf "including the space leftby the tab ll corresponding to the tab it already in position in thesafety razor and in thisoperadiscussed. In this case, a pair of tongues54 are brought up through the blade slot and turned outwardly about thestraight end edges of the slot so that they lie upon the upper surfaceof the blade. The tongues Stare of a width substantially to fill the endof the blade slot so that they act to prevent movement of the bladeeither longitudinally or laterally within its cover. Protected bladeslike those shown in Fig. 7 may be dispensed singly or may be secured ina stack by a staple driven either through the overlapping .free endsofthe cover or through the tabs 53.

The cover shown in Fig. 8 comprises the leaves 60 and 62, the leaf 6having the slot 6| and the tab -63 cut therefrom. In this case fourtongues 64 are brought up through the blade apertur in the endmostenlargement thereof and are turned outwardly from the oppositelydisposed end walls of these enlargements and upon the surface of theblade. serve to hold the, blade- 24 securely in position with itssharpened edges inside the contour of the protective cover.

The protected blade and the novel stack of protected blades hereindisclosed are not herein claimed but form the subject matter of mycopending application, Serial No. 20,623, filed May 9, 1935, of whichthe present application is a division.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The method of protecting and packaging V blades having reentrantcorner recesses, which consists in outlining a tab connected at one endto the body of a cover sheet over the edges of the recessed corners,folding the sheet on a line coinciding substantially with the attachedend of the tab while the tab projects unfolded beyond the fold vertex,and then securing the blade thus protected in a stack through the mediumof the .over a blade and at the same time leaving in flat unfoldedcondition a tab outlined in one leaf of the sheet. and then securing theprotected blade in a package by means of said tab.

4. The method of protecting and packaging apertured blades, whichconsists in folding a The tongues 64, therefore,'

slotted cover'sheet over the blade and at the same time separating a tabfrom one leaf of the sheet and causing it to extend in flat unfoldedcondition beyond the end of, the protected blade while the slot of thecover substantially registers with the aperture of the blade, and theninserting a fastener through the tab.

5. The method of protecting and packaging blades, which consists innotching a cover sheet to define a transverse fold vertex and outlininga tab connected to the blank in line with said notches, then foldingsaid cover sheet upon a blade without disturbing the tab, and finallyutilizing the tab to hold the protected blade superposed upon similarprotected blades gfold line therein and shaping the ends of the sheet toprovide a projecting tongue and transversely foldable ears respectively,doubling the sheet over a blade while maintaining the tab in a flatcondifolding the car on one end of the cover sheet across the tongue onthe other end thereof, and finally securing the protected blade in apackage by a fastener inserted through said tab.

8. The method of protecting and packaging slotted razor blades, whichconsists in doubling a perforated cover sheet over the blade so that itsperforations register with the slot of the blade, providing a tab ofsingle thickness which extends outwardly in flat unfolded condition fromthe doubled sheet, assembling the blade thus protected with others uponpins-passing through the blade slots and thereby maintaining the tabssuperposed in registration, and then inserting a fastener through thesuperposed tabs.

9. The method of protecting blades having reentrant corner recesses andelongated end portions, which consists in outlining in one leaf of acover sheet a tab of substantially the width of an end portion of theblade, doubling the cover over the edges of the corner recesses whilethe tab 'is held in flat condition by one end portion of the blade, andthen securing at least one leaf of the cover to the blade enclosedthereby.

HENRY A. GUSTAFSON.

CERTIFICATE; or cosnsc'riou.

- Patent No. 2,058,147. a I October 20, 1936.

HENRY A, GUSTAFSON.

is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification ofthe above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3 firstI column, line 37, claim 1, strike out the comma and words folding thesheet and insert the same after "sheet" in'line 36, same claim; and thatthe said I Letters'Patent should be read with this correction thereinthat the same may conform to the record ofv the case in the PatentOffice.

Signed and sealed this 5th day of January, A. D. 1957.

gem-y van mummy (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents.

